We really don’t know any more than we did 6 or 7 hours ago. Neither the WaPo, NYT or Boston Globe really have anything new. Senator Edward Kennedy had a seizure this morning. He was transported to Mass. General Hospital in Boston where tests are being run. The Senator is reportedly awake and interactive. That’s about it.
Senator Kennedy, 76 years-old and very overweight, was airlifted to Massachusetts General Hospital. As far as I can tell, no one really has a handle on what is going on. The news media is reporting that he has symptoms of a stroke.
I pray for his speedy recovery.
Update from the Boston Globe:
Doctors believe that Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts suffered a seizure at his home in Hyannis Port this morning, then a second seizure as he was being transported by helicopter from Cape Cod Hospital to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, according to an official briefed on the situation.
His condition was unclear early this afternoon, as a special police security detail gathered at Mass. General. Kennedy family members were called this morning and told to rush to Boston, according to sources.
Update II Statement from Senator Kennedy’s office:
“It appears that Senator Kennedy experienced a seizure this morning,” a statement released by his office in Washington said. “He is undergoing a battery of tests at Massachusetts General Hospital to determine the cause of the seizure. Senator Kennedy is resting comfortably, and it is unlikely we will know anything more for the next 48 hours.”
All I can say this that this statement isn’t exactly accurate. They should know something by now. Kennedy has been at the hospital for over two hours. I guarantee that he has had blood work and a CT scan of his head, at the very least. Also, since Kennedy was recently diagnosed with a narrowing of his carotid artery but no surgery was recommended, I would guess that a test has been performed on that artery to see if the disease has progressed.
Today’s show is full of extra special goodness. I have Glenn Greenwald as my special guest. We discuss his book, Great American Hypocrites. This is a great interview. Also, I cover President Bush’s attack on Senator Barack Obama, plus his “sacrifice” of golf for the troops.
Straight and to the point, Senator Barack Obama directly responded to President Bush’s appeasement comment and then turned to Senator John McCain. Obama correctly stated that McCain has offered to differentiate between himself and George Bush on foreign policy.
Below are Obama’s remarks in South Dakota.
From the Washington Post: “If George Bush and John McCain want to have a debate about protecting America, that is a debate I will have anytime, any place,” he said to a cheering crowd. “George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for.”
Obama then launched into list of grievances, including a war fought on the premise of uprooting weapons of mass destruction that were never found, the failure to catch Osama Bin Laden and turning Iran into the “greatest beneficiary” of the Iraq war.
“That’s the Bush-McCain record on protecting this country,” Obama said. “Those are the failed policies that John McCain wants to double down on.”
The senator’s comments came in response to President Bush’s speech before the Israeli Knesset yesterday, in which he likened a willingness to meet with “terrorists and radicals” to appeasement of the Nazis.
“That’s exactly the kind of appalling attack that’s divided our country and alienates us from the world,” Obama said. “And that’s exactly why we need change.”
Finally, there are a group of Democrats who believe that Obama hasn’t shown enough passion on the campaign trail. Well, I thought he showed plenty of passion in this speech.
I just don’t think that this news thing is working out for Bill O’Reilly. I thought that O’Reilly’s personal low was when he reported on Hanna Montana’s “racy photos.” That was news?
Now he does a segment on the DailyKos, where I have been nearly every day for the past week or so. There have been some great stuff posted, but O’Reilly found someone who posted something about Jenna Bush’s wedding. Is this news? Really?
Currently on DailyKos there are posting on Obama firing back on McCain over foreign policy. That seems to be a relevant topic. There is a posting on Harry Reid and the Democrats winning the fight over FEC appointments. Finally, there is a article about Senator John McCain’s campaign being flush with lobbyists.
The best part of Bill’s segment is that he interview’s internet “expert” Mary Katherine Ham. An internet expert? What the heck is that? Does she work for Google? She is a blogger. She is a right-wing blogger. She is no more an expert on the internet than I am.
I’m not sure where to go with Bush’s statement about the dangers of appeasement in the Israeli Knesset. I’m surprised that President Bush didn’t get booed.
Wasn’t it the Bush administration that pushed Israel into a fight with Hezbollah? Using the same logic that got us bogged down in Iraq, the Bush administration pushed and prodded Israel into attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon. In my opinion, it was Israel’s worst defeat in its history. So, why didn’t the Knesset give Bush the Bronx cheer that he deserved? Maybe they were just too polite.
On the other hand, could Bush be deflecting attention from Senator John McCain and his lack of thoughtful foreign policy? McCain has had about as many positions as you can on Iraq. Bush has had only one- one bad position, but only one.
Keith Olbermann and Rachael Maddow tackle this issue.
The Houston Astros baseball team has introduced “All You Can Eat” Thursdays. On Thursday home games you can pay $35 and, in addition to a seat, get unlimited hot dogs, nachos, peanuts, popcorn, soda and water. Maybe this is being done in response to concern by the team that the rise in gas prices will hurt attendance this year. Another option my hometown Astros could consider is allowing fans to bring their own food in the stadium. This would lower the cost of going to a game. Other teams allow outside food. In any case, this new offer is disgusting.
Meanwhile, much of the world is being impacted by increases in the price of food. I’m not suggesting we poison the world with stadium food. Or that a person eating a meal of four hot dogs and three trays of nachos is denying a hungry person in Cameroon a meal of hot dogs and nachos. But what if the Astros donated $1 from each ticket on All You Can Eat Day to world food relief efforts? This would at least acknowledge that some people don’t have access to things like “All You Can Eat” Thursdays.
Above you see a picture of the world’s longest hot dog. Maybe instead of many hot dogs, “All You Can Eat” customers could be served a four or five foot long hot dog?
Below is a picture of Zam Zam Cola. This brand is produced in Canada and is popular in Iran and in parts of the Arab world. I would have a Zam Zam with my five foot hot dog.
The House defeated a $162 billion proposal to fund the Iraq War thru 2009. A coalition of Democrats and insightful Republicans (is that an oxymoron?) who read the tea leaves in Mississippi and are trying to distance themselves from a President who is losing popularity by the second.
President George W. Bush was addressing the Knesset (Israel’s Parliament) today. Bush said: “Some seem to believe we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: ‘Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.’ We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”
Somebody please help me. Who said anything about appeasement? Pat Buchanan pointed out that the Bush administration negotiated with Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi. He gave up his nuclear ambitions. We tried the hard line with North Korea and they made more nuclear weapons during the Bush administration than in their history. We tried the hard line against Iran and they are clearly stronger now than since the late 1970’s.
Barack Obama had a thoughtful statement: “It is time to turn the page on eight years of policies that have strengthened Iran and failed to secure America or our ally Israel. Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan did and use all elements of American power — including tough, principled and direct diplomacy — to pressure countries like Iran and Syria.”
It appears to me that Bush is trying to go out of his way to prove how bad his administration truly is. I’m not sure that he did Senator John McCain any favors.
I guess the biggest news from yesterday was John Edwards’ endorsement of Senator Barack Obama. Edwards gave a GREAT speech.
It has been a little while since Keith Olbermann had a “Special Comment.” Olbermann has four major points about an interview yesterday that President George Bush gave to Politico.com and the users of Yahoo.
Olbermann’s “Special Comment” might of been a little over the top but he was correct. Bush isn’t sprinting to the finish line like he said. He is limbing. If he were a boat he would be listing to one side. I guess the one thing that is clear is George W. Bush is the worst president in the last 50 years. In fact, he maybe the worst president, ever.
Senator John Edwards states in a passionate speak from Grand Rapids, Michigan that “The reason that I’m here tonight is because the Democratic voters in America have made their choice and so have I.”
He went on, “This election is about taking down those walls of the past so that we can see what’s possible.”
Nothing can really stop Senator Barack Obama now.
It is important for Senator Barack Obama to shake off West Virginia, and the best medicine would be a primary victory. The second-best medicine would be a major endorsement like John Edwards.
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From MSNBC:
Democrat John Edwards is endorsing former rival Barack Obama, fresh signs of the party establishment embracing the likely nominee even as Hillary Rodham Clinton refuses to give up her long-shot candidacy.
Edwards was to appear with Obama in Grand Rapids, Mich., as Obama campaigns in a critical general election battleground state. (more…)
I’m going to try to do a daily report of the major items, but I have this day job that might prevent me from doing this regularly.
